That having been said, it's been an interesting summer, and I'd like to put out a "Previously Obsessed" composite Top-8 listing of Brand New and Coheed & Cambria (both NY bands, I'd like to mention):
For Brand New, the songs all hail from Deja Entendu, released in 2003 and largely introduced to me by Mr. David Allen at some point during my matriculation at Bucknell University. The songs are weighty, with pensive, reflective verses and power-rock choruses; the cold vs. the warm; fall vs. summer. I'd start with "I Will Play My Game Beneath The Spin Light," which gets particular credit for the following lyrics:
- Opening line: "The time has come for colds and overcoats..."
- Midway through verse 1: "I need the smell of summer/ I need its noises in my ear."
- End of verse 2: "Oh, I would kill for the Atlantic, / but I am paid to make girls panic while I sing."
"So keep the blood in your head
And keep your feet on the ground"
Coheed & Cambria gets the remaining five spots on my list. For those who are unfamiliar, allow me to provide a little background. Coheed & Cambria has released a series of albums (of which I will pull from two), based on a set of graphic novels (comics), written by frontman Claudio Sanchez. Having neither read nor seen this literature, I will refrain from any further comment (but know that the story is complex and sci-fi based). I believe Coheed & Cambria has largely not been recognized by the mainstream due to the lyrics (which are story-based; instead of abstract and brainless, but catchy and easy-to-remember), the length of some of the songs (many in excess of seven minutes), and their blending of genres to achieve a truly unique sound (taken across the albums).
Before I launch into the songs I've selected, I will propose a convention (for ease of reading/writing) for short-handing the album titles (you'll see why in a moment):
- "III" = "In Keeping Secrets Of Silent Earth: 3"
- "IV" = "Good Apollo, I'm Burning Star IV, Vol. 1: From Fear Through the Eyes of Madness"
Notably, this list does not include some of (what I consider to be) their most popular songs:
- Welcome Home [IV]: Hit track and first single off the album, this song managed to make it on to the Rock Band video game, which I would postulate may be the first time many of these gamers had heard a Coheed & Cambria song they could later identify.
- A Favor House Atlantic & Blood Red Summer [III]: Both released as singles, without significant radio play (but both excellent songs)
- The Suffering [IV]: Second single off "IV," this again was under-appreciated by radio listeners.
- The Crowing [III]: One of the best Coheed & Cambria songs ever, especially as performed by UPenn Off the Beat.
- Three Evils (Embodied In Love and Shadow) [III]: Upbeat with interesting chord changes - I love it. As above, I wish we could do without the brief screaming incident starting at 2:16 - but it was a trend of the times. I will also note the reoccurring theme that the lyrics in these songs are confusing, graphic, mind-bloggling, and likely require an intimate familiarity with "The Amory Wars" and a degree in psychology to fully digest.
- The Camper Velourium I: Faint of Hearts [III]: I have no vested interest in anything The Beatles have ever done. That having been said, I was amused when I heard the homage to "I Am The Walrus" in the first 10 seconds. (If you listen carefully, someone laughs in the right channel immediately afterwards.) Anyway, I dig this whole song, but 3:45 really does it for me: "But I'm not quite sure what you've been told on Labor Day..." Something about that chord progression into the chorus. Good times.
- The Light & the Glass [III]: Ok - so, if you're unfamiliar with Coheed & Cambria, you're probably confused if you're listening to this song. For the record, this happens at least once on each of these albums, and isn't that different from Jimmy Eat World writing a slow song... so get over it! In all honesty, I don't even like the acoustic part of this song. For me, the song starts at 4:11 when they start to rock a little harder. The song becomes an avalanche: building momentum until guitars mostly cut-out 1:30 from the end, at which point the song lingers, hanging in the air like the moments after a disaster. Check it out. (PS - The last 0:44 are nonsense, so just ignore that.)
- Mother May I [IV]: The more I hear this song, the more it gets into my head. Ignoring the obvious weirdness associated with "So run little children, play/ I'll leave the light off to turn your mother on," the chorus just rocks too hard to be ignored: "God only knows when your word isn't pure/ And the blood on your hands isn't yours... So give them the story they want/ You too, before you leave me" -- I couldn't agree more.
- The Willing Well III: Apollo II: The Telling Truth [IV]: This song likely reignited my fascination with Coheed & Cambria (first lit by seeing UPenn Off the Beat perform "The Crowing" live some years ago). If you listen to [IV] cover-to-cover, you'll hit "Apollo I: The Writing Writer" at track 6, and think that it rocks hard and enjoyably. "Apollo II," track 14, is the reprise to the former - a real tribute to good album-writing (which has fallen way to singles written by producers and marketed as one-off's on iTunes). That all having been said, we haven't even gotten to the best part of the song! At 4:46, after an extended bridge (full of excellent changes and song writing), a TOTALLY NEW chorus emerges and brings it all together, culminating in a REPRISE FROM THE ORIGINAL CHORUS. Woah -- this is more closely aligned with classical, symphonic song writing than rock music. Think about that.
Much love from the cold North. I'm expecting snow by Halloween, though I doubt it will influence whatever asinine costume I'm roped into wearing.
-JB
